Netherlands striker Romelu Lukaku headed home as Roma drew 1-1 at Feyenoord in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round.
The match at De Kuip Stadium, Rotterdam on February 15 was the first time new coach Daniele De Rossi led Roma in the European arena. Before that, the Italian coach and Roma won three consecutive matches, successively defeating Verona 2-1, Salernitana 2-1 and Cagliari 4-0, then lost 2-4 to Inter Milan in Serie A.
Roma striker Dybala dribbles during the first leg of the Europa League play-off round at Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium on February 15. Photo: asroma.it
In contrast to the cautious approach under Jose Mourinho, Roma pushed up the pitch and created many chances right from the opening whistle. In the 17th minute, Paulo Dybala crossed from the right wing for Romelu Lukaku to head the ball straight at goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther, then Leandro Paredes fired a cannonball from nearly 30m away and the ball hit the crossbar.
The surprise came in the first half's injury time, when Feyenoord opened the scoring. Quilindschy Hartman crossed from the left wing for Igor Paixao to head the ball into the corner, beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
In the 67th minute, Roma equalized the score following a similar scenario. Left-back Leonardo Spinazzola advanced and crossed into the penalty area for Lukaku to head into the far corner. The Belgian striker scored his 26th goal in the Europa League since the 2009-2010 season, the second-best figure in the tournament, equal with Aritz Aduriz, only behind Radamel Falcao and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 30 goals each.
Roma striker Romelu Lukaku headed home the equalizer in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round at Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium on February 15. Photo: AFP
After the match, De Rossi praised Lukaku as one of the best strikers in the world, but he needs to maintain more consistent form. "Lukaku needs to learn how to score goals even when he is closely marked like today. I am satisfied with his performance and attitude," the 40-year-old coach said, and assessed that Roma had a good result to look forward to the second leg.
This is the third consecutive time Roma have played Feyenoord in European competition. In the 2021-22 season, Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the final thanks to Nicolo Zaniolo to become the inaugural Europa Conference League champions. The two teams will meet again in the quarter-finals of the 2022-23 Europa League, with Feyenoord winning 1-0 in the first leg in Rotterdam, then Roma winning 4-1 in the second leg at home.
Meanwhile, Serie A side Milan crushed Rennes 3-0 at the San Siro thanks to a goal from Rafael Leao and a brace from Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Loftus-Cheek became the first Milan midfielder to score twice in a European knockout match since Kaka, who netted twice against Man Utd in the Champions League semi-finals on 24 April 2007. Leao has not scored in any competition since scoring in the 2-1 loss to Atalanta in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals on 10 January.
Midfielder Loftus-Cheek headed in to make it 2-0 for Milan in their 3-0 win over Rennes in the first leg of the play-off round at San Siro on February 15. Photo: acmilan.com
The second legs of the Europa League play-offs will take place on 22 February. The eight play-off winners will advance to the round of 16, along with the group winners: West Ham, Brighton, Rangers, Atalanta, Liverpool, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Leverkusen. The draw for the round of 16 will take place on 23 February. The first legs will take place on 7 March and the second legs on 14 March.
Hong Duy
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